Dragonquest Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		0.5
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		1.5

Dragonquest Blu-ray Movie Review

Typically bad Asylum fare, and it's boring as heck, too.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 28, 2011

A darkness covers the land. Soon, it will be irreversible.

Wait...if darkness covers the land, then chances are the electricity is out and the television isn't working, which means...yes! One can't actually watch Dragonquest. It's pretty sad when being scorched by a dragon's fire or living in a world devastated by evil seem like better fates than watching a movie, but The Asylum's latest Dragon picture really is that awful; it's a typically miserable and meandering movie with only the most basic plot outline and all of the usual negative attributes surrounding it. For a so-called "Fantasy/Adventure" film, Dragonquest is laughably inept when it comes to the former and barely representative of the latter. Isn't a Fantasy film supposed to be in some way magical? Is not an Adventure film meant to be, oh, adventurous? Dragonquest is mostly just a dull, meaningless picture that offers no real reason to watch, but it is one of those movies ripe for the old MST3K treatment, for whatever that's worth.

Precision framing of the film's most critical action scenes is but one of the many great things about 'Dragonquest.'

A dark sorcerer summons a powerful dragon to wreak havoc on the world at large. The fate of the world rests on the shoulders of a destined young man, Arkadi (Daniel Bonjour), who is tasked with collecting mystical stones and reuniting them inside a sacred pendant entrusted to him by a man known far and wide as "Grandfather." Arkadi seeks out a powerful warrior, Maxim (Marc Singer, The Beastmaster), who is the only one who can train him in the ways of the ancients, withstand the trials, and collect the Stones of Virtue that hold the key to saving the world. Along the way, Arkadi teams up with a young warrior named Katya (Jennifer Dorogi) who will prove invaluable in the quest to rid the world of the unspeakable evil bent on destroying it.

Seeing as that there's nothing really good to say about Dragonquest (except, maybe, that it's a touch better than a couple of The Asylum's other pictures; War of the Worlds 2: Next Wave comes to mind), there's no choice but to just jump right into the bad. Dragonquest is home to many awful elements -- bad effects, lame story, awful acting, and a shameful script -- but it's the film's lack of urgency or commitment to building even a slightly interesting story that's one of the most irritating problems. Not only is character development minimal, but the actors play the parts with less enthusiasm than a group of fifth grade schoolchildren putting on a school play for mommy and daddy. It's hard to believe that actors being paid money to perform could be this listless; a few passable at-a-glance period costumes and several antiquated vocabulary words are no substitute to actually trying to bring the material to life, but then again it's hard to assign blame when the script is this generic. Veteran Actor Marc Singer gets through the movie by doing little more than grunting. The James Van Der Beek-look-alike lead actor, to his credit, gives it a go, but the female sidekick looks awfully bored through the course of the movie. The lack of emotion is probably the film's worst offending element, but that, of course, is still only a small piece of the greater puzzle.

Dragonquest also features the same pitifully micro-budgeted special effects that are the norm in these kinds of movies, tending only to make matters worse rather than actually enhance the story. The CGI dragon is fairly detailed, but even the 15-year-old Dragonheart managed better effects than these. Isn't there some sort of scientific law that says computing power and the quality of things they can do are supposed to get both easier and cheaper over time, and at an exponential rate? Fifteen years is a fairly long time in the world of technology; oh well. Still, seeing as that the effects are par for the course for this sort of fare, it's hard to complain too much; caveat emptor. In fact, all things considered -- the overall scope of the film, the quality of the script, the weaknesses of the special effects, and the low-grade acting -- it's safe to say that anyone with a decent "prosumer"-style HD video camera; a know-how with a mouse, keyboard, and the right software; and a few willing friends; could assemble a movie on par with Dragonquest. As an amateur film made over the course of a few weekends? "Hey! Very good!" As a "studio"-produced film? Not so much.

Dragonquest Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dragonquest isn't an eye-opener, but Echo Bridge's 1080p Blu-ray transfer isn't half-bad given the quality of the source, either. Banding, noise, a general flatness, and a few soft shots hinder the overall look of the transfer, but it's otherwise steady and perfectly watchable, should one be so inclined. Skin textures are handled quite well in close-up shots, and general detail is fine if not fairly unspectacular. Clothes, rough terrain, and general foliage never appear too undefined, clumpy, or smeary. Colors are a bit on the bland side by the film's very nature, and black levels are of the hit-or-miss variety. The image is generally crisp, however, and while this is certainly not a top-tier transfer, it's more than adequate for the quality of the movie.

Dragonquest Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dragonquest features a DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless soundtrack. Lacking both the range of 5.1 mixes and the clarity usually associated with the average lossless presentation, Dragonquest plays as rather flat and uninspired but nevertheless adequate, all things considered. The track does manage a few direction-specific effects across the front -- a knock on a door off to the side, a few scattered elements in the chaos of battle -- but this is mostly a middle-heavy presentation. General sound effects lack punch and clarity, but music is generally smooth if not a little lacking in terms of raw energy and realism. Dialogue is fine for the most part, but it can lose volume against more pronounced sound effects in a few spots, notably durung a battle scene in chapter four. There are also a few readily-evident instances of dropout and unevenness. Overall, the track is a decent one at a very base level; it won't set the world on fire, but listeners should find it satisfactory nonetheless.

Dragonquest Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No extras are included.

Dragonquest Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dragonquest is a terrible movie, but that's not a surprise. It's the same thing with every one of these cheap Asylum movies and their ScyFy Channel cousins; no real need for a review, because the name of the production company pretty much encapsulates the entire thing, anyway. Bad ______ (fill in the blank with any aspect of the production; it'll work) rules the day with this one. There's no real need to watch; go outside, go for a walk, play with the cat -- almost anything's more enjoyable than this. Dragonquest might work well as background noise when someone's down and out with a bad cold, but otherwise, this is one to skip. Echo Bridge's Blu-ray release of Dragonquest does sport a passable technical presentation, but no extras are included. For a few bucks, it might be worth it to the Blu-ray collector, but most are advised to skip it, no matter how low the price manages to go.